Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Feast Day: July 16
Symbol: Scapular
Color: Brown
Associated with: Obatala

As a teenager, Simon Stock lived in a tree. This was back in the 12th century, so they didn't try to put him on Ritalin. He composed poems to Mary & carved her names in the trunk & branches of his home, became an interent preacher & Carmelite mystic.

On July 16, 1251, he was holed up in his cell, depressed over the oppression of the Carmelites, and reciting one of the poems he'd written while tree-sitting.

Bing! His cell filled with a radiant light and there appeared Mary, surrounded by angels and holding the infant Jesus. In her free hand, she held a brown scapular & presented it to Simon, saying, "Receive, my beloved son, this scapular of your order; it is the special sign of my favor which I have obtained for you and the children of Mount carmel. He who dies clothed with this habit will be preserved from eternal fire."

So don't die without it!

But what do you eat on the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel?